A matter of time
by miafka
Summary: His head hurt, like almost every other part of his body, and he was disoriented... he couldn’t even remember his own name." Blair’s been arrested for killing a man. Is it possible? Please read and review
1. Chapter 1

**I'm back with my new Sentinel fanficton, this time it will be in parts. Please be gentle, but I'll be thankful for any ideas and, of course, constructive critic. English isn't my first language.  
The next part will be very soon.**

**Sorry for any mistakes which I made, although it was beta read by Brynn87 who I thank from the bottom of the heart for amazing beta job.**

**I don't own the main characters, just the storyline, it's written only for entertainment  
**

**Hope you enjoy it**,

* * *

A MATTER OF TIME

by miafka

He opened his eyes abruptly and screamed. After a while, he calmed himself down and slowly took a few deep breaths while he sat up. He found himself lying on a tiny bed, in an absolutely unfamiliar place which seemed to be a small, quiet, and dim motel room in the middle of nowhere. His head hurt, like almost every other part of his body, and he was disoriented. He couldn't remember why he was totally alone in this room; he couldn't even remember his own name.

Suddenly, he heard a piercing sound coming from the bedside table. He looked in the direction of the sound and saw a small cell phone flashing the name "Jim" on the screen. He figured it was probably his own cell phone, so any conversation he had with this "Jim" would probably bring some much needed information, but he still hesitated a moment before picking up the noisy object. When he finally answered the phone, he heard a male voice that sounded very anxious and angry, but it also sounded strangely familiar.

"Sandburg, how many times do I have to call you? Where are you?" The voiced hissed and then, after a few seconds of silence, became friendlier. "What's wrong, buddy? Why are you so quiet, Chief?" After even more silence, just a bit of panic crept into Jim's voice. "Are you there? Blair? Talk to me, for God's sake!"

"I'm sorry…um…yes…I'm here," the young man said in a very small voice. If it hadn't been for Jim's special abilities, he probably wouldn't have heard it. "Sorry," Blair repeated, slightly louder, but in that same small, scared voice. Jim was able to hear his friend's heartbeat and breathing as they accelerated dangerously, but even without his heightened senses, he would have known there was something wrong. This just wasn't like Blair.

"I don't remember…" Sandburg stated strangely after a few seconds. "I'm sorry."

"It's okay, Chief. I'm not angry with you at all. Calm down." Jim said soothingly. "Just breathe slowly, Chief." Jim listened for a decrease in his friend's respiration rate. "Alright, that's right. Keep breathing just like that." Once the young man seemed calmer, the sentinel asked some important questions. "What can't you remember, Chief? Are you hurt?"

"I don't know…Everything hurts…especially my head, I guess." Blair replied, and then a long silence fell. All Jim heard was a few slow footsteps and then a muffled scream of horror and barely audible words that increased his own anxiety. "Oh God! What have I done? No, NO!"

"Hey! What happened?! Sandburg, talk to me! What is it?"

"I-I think I killed someone… a man," Blair stuttered. "A man in a police uniform…he's lying on the floor. There's so much blood…so much blood!" Blair's heartbeat and breathing were racing now, and he was about to start hyperventilating. "Oh God! I'm so sorry! I must have killed him!" Blair was nearly hysterical now. "I don't remember… I don't remember!" Jim heard him repeating those words over and over, like a mantra, despite the sentinel's best efforts to calm the younger man down.

"Sandburg, you listen to me. Don't you even say that, Chief! You can't possibly be the one who did this. I know you. This can't be your fault." Jim listened for any sign that his friend was calming down, but heard none. Sandburg was still nearly panic-stricken. "You've got to believe me, Chief. I'm begging you. Try to calm down" Jim knew how Blair reacted to the side of a dead body at the best of times, and judging by the confusion in Blair's voice, and the admitted gap in his memory, this couldn't possibly even come close to be being the best of times. "I know it's hard, buddy. Don't look at the body, okay?" Jim had to get Blair's mind off the body as much as possible. "Try to think back, Chief. What's the last thing you remember? Help me out here."

Knowing his friend, Jim was sure Sandburg hadn't killed anyone in cold blood…least of all a cop. So, the whole situation must have been set up by someone who wanted to get back at the young police observer for some reason. Sandburg had a lot of friends, but also, quite possibly, a lot of unknown enemies, especially in the criminal underworld. Or, given the kid's association with Jim, this could be someone's attempt to get back at the detective by setting Blair up like this. The first suspect that popped into the sentinel's mind was the current serial killer case that he and Blair were investigating. The more he thought about it, the more convinced he became that this was an attempt to keep them from solving that case.

"I think I'm going to need help here, man." Blair seemed to sound even more nervous than before, if that was possible.

"What do you mean, Chief? What kind of help?"

"You said I didn't kill this guy, right? Well, someone is knocking on the door, and I don't know if they'll believe that. I don't know what to do…"

"No way you could have done this, Chief. Not unless it was self defense, and even then you would have just hit him with a lamp or something…I can't see any way you could have caused all that blood." Jim tried to sound calm and certain. "Don't panic, Chief. Nothing bad is going to happen." That part, Jim wasn't so certain about. He didn't even want to think about what the police would think if they entered that room and found a body they thought was one of their own, especially with Sandburg sitting there with no memory and no alibi. "Don't worry, Chief. We'll get through this mess together, okay buddy?" Jim reassured his friend.


	2. Chapter 2

A MATTER OF TIME (2)

Jim could hear two loud voices over the phone before Blair dropped it. The kid solemnly insisted that he didn't do this, but he didn't sound nearly as sure as Jim would have liked.

Jim wished he could do something – anything – to help his friend, but couldn't think of what that might be. After a few seconds, while he heard a policeman in the background informing Sandburg of his rights, another voice answered the phone.

Jim pleaded, "Hello? Is anyone there? I need to talk to someone in charge. You have the wrong man."

An angry voice answered, "You can come in and make a report, but we have this man dead to rights. He was found with the dead body, a dead _cop_ no less. Hopefully your little buddy will go to prison for a very long time."

"Look," Jim started, "This is Detective James Ellison from Major Crimes, Cascade PD. You can call Simon Banks to verify. The man you've arrested is my partner, Blair Sandburg. He is _not_ a murderer. He isn't capable of killing in cold blood. I repeat; you've got the wrong man. The real perp is still out there. I think this may be related to a case we're working on. Tell me your name and we'll see if we can't work together to get to the bottom of this."

"Officer Adam Culp, 14th Precinct, Cascade. I'll check your story, Detective." Jim could hear the sarcasm in Culp's voice, though, and wasn't at all sure he'd check out the story in any kind of timely manner. He wanted to ask where Sandburg would be held, but his interlocutor had already finished the conversation and had hung up the phone.

Sitting in front of the computer and once more reading his own unfinished report of the serial killer case, Jim wondered why Sandburg hadn't contacted him; why he hadn't asked for help before chasing a suspect, because somehow Jim just knew that that's what Blair had been doing. That whole evening Blair and Ellison had spent time interrogating a suspect; one that knew a lot more about the case than he claimed, if Jim was any judge of character. Sandburg had gotten a call during the interrogation and had rushed out. Jim remembered thinking that that was strange. Blair usually told his partner where he was going, but Blair had assured him that they would meet at home shortly, so Jim had tried to put it out of his mind.

Jim waited, but Blair never showed up. Next thing the sentinel knew, he was getting a very strange call from his friend, and Blair was being arrested for a crime he didn't commit. Jim couldn't help but wonder who had called Sandburg and what had happened next.

All of a sudden, he was _certain_ that the man in the police uniform was one of the seven victims of this elusive serial killer; the man they'd been pursuing for so long.

If this _was_ one of the serial killer's victims, it was unlikely that the man had really been a cop. The previous victims, six men ages 25 – 28, had been found, one by one, in some lonely part of the city with a lot of deserted warehouses. All of them had been wearing fake policemen or firemen uniforms. Their own clothes were never found; everyone assumed they had been taken away and destroyed by the killer. Identifying the victims had been made more difficult by the severe facial injuries each one had suffered.

Jim had checked the medical reports from the autopsy and found that each victim had had the same drug in his blood. The killer had subdued them with it, and soon took their lives. Jim was sure that the murderer must have killed the first six victims in his hide-out and then transported them to where they were found. In Jim's experience, serial killers liked to be close to admire their work, so he hoped that meant the hide-out was in the same area as where they had found the bodies.

***

A few minutes later, Jim stood in front of Captain Banks in his office.

"Ellison, I just got a call from the 14th Precinct about you and Sandburg. Can you explain what's going on?" thundered Banks.

"Simon, we have a big problem, here. Sandburg's been arrested for killing a man. He will be in Municipal Custody in a few minutes. We have to get him out of this, Simon. He doesn't remember exactly what happened last night, probably due to a blow to the head, or maybe he was drugged, but you know he could never _kill_ anyone."

"Of course not." Banks blustered, biting hard on his unlit cigar, "This is total nonsense, Ellison! The kid in custody? Drugged? God, I know he has the worst luck of anyone I've ever met, but this sounds too preposterous even for him! I can't believe this."

"Me either, Captain," Ellison replied seriously. "He's being framed for this, probably by the serial killer since the victim was dressed like a cop. Unfortunately, Blair has no memory and no alibi, and there's no way I can _prove_ he didn't do this."

Captain Banks nodded slowly. "I don't allow anyone to lock up my best men, Jim. I'll take care of it." Simon's voice softened, "You go over there and wait with him until we get bail. He must be scared as hell." The big man shook his head at the thought.

***

On his way to where his friend was locked up in custody, Jim silently thanked Simon for arranging that Sandburg would be alone in his cell. After a long wait, the detective was finally allowed to see his friend. It was a heart-breaking view. The anthropologist was sitting with his arms around his legs, rocking back and forth, looking at a point on the opposite wall.

"Hey Chief, how are you doing?" Sandburg didn't reply and it looked like he didn't even hear Jim's words. After a while he tried again and concentrated his hearing and sight to catch any sign that Sandburg might be responding to him. "Sandburg, it's me, Jim. We talked two hours ago on the phone, remember?" Blair stopped rocking but was still unresponsive, so Jim continued. "C'mon Chief, talk to me. I'm here to help you. I know you're scared, but you have to tell me exactly what you remember, okay?"

His enhanced hearing finally caught a whisper in a voice almost overcome with emotions. "I don't remember much," Blair started hesitantly, "but I think I remember a large man dragging something big into a motel room. I tried to call… Then someone accosted me. The voice sounded familiar somehow, but then everything became blurry and I fell on the floor. I couldn't move…I remember somebody dragging me into the room, but by then I couldn't even scream for help. There were two men and a third on the floor. Two of them wore ski masks and I couldn't really see their faces." Blair became even more emotional, almost hysterical. "_They _killed him, Jim. I'm not a murderer. God, I didn't get there in time to stop them. He was lying on the floor and… there was so much blood…."

"Chief, calm down." Jim tried to soothe his distraught friend. "You're safe now. What happened wasn't your fault, you know that. You're not a murderer. At least you know that now, too. You were drugged, Chief, and you had no chance to help him. You did the best you could." Jim could tell Blair was calming; only a little, but he_ was_ calming some. "Look at me and listen to me very carefully, Blair." He waited until his young friend actually made eye-contact, and then continued. "You're my best friend, Chief, and I think I know you well enough to say that you would have done _everything _in your power to save that man if you had had half a chance. Do you hear me?"

Blair merely nodded and Jim concluded, "Everything is going to be okay." '_I'll pull you through this mess, Chief,' _Jim thought, repeating his own words. This time he was attempting to reassure himself as well as Blair.

***

Sandburg was finally released from custody after Simon convinced the officers of the 14th precinct that there was only circumstantial evidence tying Blair to the murder, and more than enough reason to believe that he was being framed by the serial killer he and Jim were investigating. Day by day the kid regained his memory and acted more like himself; but, he still had dreadful nightmares in which he relived what happened in that motel room.

While the forensic work on the clothes and items found with the latest victim still didn't yield an identity, it did supply the name of Chris Stone, doctor of applied physics at Rainier University. A tattered business card with his name on it was found in the motel room near the victim.

When Blair had heard the name, he was surprised. "Man, I _know _him. He's probably the weirdest guy I've ever known, which is saying something considering how weird some people think _I_ am. But, I don't think he would…" Blair thought of something else. "You know, two or three months ago, our departments were preparing an exhibition about the influence of scientific discovery on different cultures…"

Jim interrupted with a small smile. "Yeah, I know Chief. You dragged me there once, remember?"

"Yeah, I remember." Blair smiled, glad that he _was_ actually remembering most things again. Then he continued. "Anyway, Stone was the head of a team from the Physics Department. He acted really strange… He was always leaving right when we were in the middle of something. He relied on me a lot…asking me to prepare his share of the display. He called me once after I had already left school and asked me to…" Blair's eyes widened in shock as he remembered something. "Oh my God! Jim, he was the one who called me that night. When we were interrogating…and…and he said that he was in trouble; he wanted me to help him. He also said that he had something very important to tell me. He said that he was in a motel near Cascade. I know it was totally stupid to go alone and not tell you about it, Jim, but I thought he might be…" he couldn't finish the sentence, and hung his head. "He lured me there, Jim. And he wasn't alone. He was with the big muscled guy I mentioned before."

Blair helped Jim check Stone's credentials. He didn't have any files in police databases, and _was_ genuinely a professor of applied physics. He was said to be very impetuous and completely absorbed by his research but his co-workers hadn't seen anything dangerous in his behavior. However, one of them did report seeing Stone arguing with a large, muscled man in a big, used car. That seemed strange for an introverted scientist like Dr. Stone. He also said that there had been a few odd accidents at the physics department lately. Apart from the theft of laboratory equipment, there had been several students attacked in recent months, three of whom had vanished into thin air.

Jim clinched his jaw at the news. He was pretty sure that those missing students were the unidentified bodies lying in the morgue.

The next day, he was on his way to interrogate Dr. Chris Stone, only to find him lying lifeless in his small apartment. Around him were numerous items which may have been used in his sick hobby. Jim was relieved that he had insisted that Sandburg stay at the police station before going to Stone's apartment. It looked like Stone's disciple, the muscular man seen in his company, had become the master and had started a deadly game of his own…

Jim figured with Stone dead, that only left the accomplice to be caught, and in the bottom of his heart, he knew that it was just a matter of time before did just that. He closed the door of the killer's apartment, and headed back to the police department. He and his partner had a new case to solve.

The end


End file.
